Discovery of a Time Capsule - Essay Example

Discovery of a Time Capsule A time capsule is a historical stock of information or goods usually intended as astrategy of communication with the future people and helps future historians, anthropologists, and archeologists. They are sometimes created and buried during commemoration such as worlds affair or a cornerstone laying for a building. The time capsules are placed with an intention that during a future date, they will be opened and accessed. A time capsule can be of whatever form and can last as long as desired and William literally wrote a book on time capsule where he breaks down the different kinds of time capsule so that regular humans can understand its meaning. The capsule can be as simple as a newspaper left accidentally undisturbed in a period of about 100 years or more. One of the kinds of the time capsules is the intentional and scheduled time capsule. Of all the types of time capsules, this kind is the most familiar to the people in the early 21st century. This essentially is any kind of box or tomb that is sealed containing instructions for future people and not to be disturbed until a particular date reaches. These intentional capsules are often buried with a plaque on its side indicating clearly when they are supposed to be opened mostly with instructions to be opened in 100 or 50 years to come. The other kind of time capsule is the intentional and unscheduled which includes things like cornerstone capsules or time capsule records. The capsules contained in the cornerstones of buildings are frequently unscheduled because they are not opened. Individuals have been placing things in cornerstones for many generations, but the intentional unscheduled style of a capsule is more controversial than a scheduled one. In the dig site, there is a time capsule (a box) and the items in the box are of the 1960s era. One of the items is an August 28, 1964 Life Magazine with a cover of the music group "The Beatles." This is one of the describing characteristics of the era. The music of the Sixties is a testimony to the changes that were placed in the United States during that time. However, it was the music that our grandparents used to listen to in high schools and afterwards expresses the changes that were taking place. Its until 1964 the United States dictated music trends of the world and the British listened to American pop bands. All of this changed when the Beatles came on the scene with a type of poppy music that made ladies fall to their knees. They additionally questioned the authority and the status quo by letting their hair grow out into styles that were divergent than the cut styles that many American men sported (Jones, 2002). When the Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan show, all the boys wanted to be like them while the girls wanted to date them as well. They also released songs that created fun at war such as Revolution, which was something that the young people of the 60s completely identified with. The world community and the entire Americans didnt like the war and suggested the US to quit. The Beatles and other pop music brought to revolution and evolution themes. The music is best described as an electric blend of variety. There was something for everybody during the time which will be cherished in the heart of many (Jones, 2002). The other item found in the time capsule is a copy of the 1963 Life Magazine featuring the assassination of President Kennedy. Kennedy, who was the appointed 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while travelling through Dallas, Texas in an open-top convertible. The First Lady Jacqueline rarely accompanied him on political outings but in this occasion, she was beside him along with John Connally, the Texas Governor and his wife. During the ten-mile motorcade in the streets of downtown Dallas on November 22, Kennedy and Connaly sat in a Lincoln convertible and waved at the large crowds gathered along the route. As their convertible passed the Texas School Building at 12.30pm, Harvey Lee fired three shots allegedly from the sixth floor seriously injuring President Kennedy and Governor Connally. Kennedy was pronounced dead after 30 minutes at Dallas Parkland Hospital while he was 46 years old. Lyndon Johnson, the vice president who was three cars behind Kennedy in the motorcade, was sworn in at 2.39 pm as the 36th president of the United States. He took the presidential oath, and the swearing was witnessed by some 30 people, including Jacqueline, who still wore clothes stained with her husbands blood. Some minutes later, the president jet took off for Washington. On November 23, the newly appointed President issued his first proclamation declaring 25th November to be a day of national lamentation for the gone president. On that day, thousands of Americans lined the streets of Washington to see Kennedys body drawn from the Capital Rotuna to St. Matthews Catholic Cathedral for a mass. The procession continued to the Arlington National Cemetery where leaders from 99 nations gathered for the state funeral. The assassination represents a turning point for political and social change in the United States. Domestically, it allowed President Johnson to pass the 1964 Civil rights Act that had not met the approval of several legislative members and also united Americans regardless of social economic or race status. The other item found in the time capsule is an Anti-Vietnam war protest button. The button includes the way and the movements against US involvement in the Vietnam War. The movement began small among peace activists and leftist on college campuses, but it gained national prominence in the year 1965 after the United States began bombing North Vietnam (Westheider, 2007). The Anti-war marches and other protests like the one organized by SDS attracted a broad base of support over the period of the next three years which peaked in the early 1968 after the successful Tet offensive by the Vietnamese troops showed that the end of the war was nowhere in sight. The members of the SDS began organizing Teach-ins in expressing their opposition to the way in which it was being conducted. Though the majority of the American population supported the administration policy in Vietnam, a small minority was trying to make their voice heard by 1965. On October 21st, 1967, one of the most prominent anti-war demonstrations took place as some thousands of protesters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial and others continued in a march on the Pentagon. The movement got an enormous boost when Martin Luther (Civil rights leader) went public with his opposition to the war on moral grounds. The anti-Vietnam protest was of great importance in the 1960s era, as it marked the termination of the war where many lives were lost and funds too. It was through this that the diversion of federal funds from domestic programs stopped, and a new life began in the history of Americans (Westheider, 2007). Another item found is a black and white photograph of President Johnson signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The proposal was made for by President Kennedy during his civil rights speech on June 11th 1963 where he asked for legislation, i.e., granting all Americans the right to be served in facilities that are opened to the public egg retail stores, hotels, theatres and similar establishments. Kennedy delivered the speech following the protests from the African-American community with the Birmingham campaign being the most notable one. Students and the children used to be attacked by dogs and high-pressure fire hoses during their protest. Following the Civil Rights Act of the year 1875, Kennedy civil rights included provision to ban discrimination in public housing services and enabled the U.S Attorney General to join with state governments which were in charge of the segregated school systems among others. Following t assassination of John Kennedy, there was a change in the political situation. His successor as president, President Johnson made use of his experience in legislative politics in support of the bill. It was on July 2nd, 1964 when President Johnson signed the Act into Law (Bugliosi, 2007). The Civil Rights Act serves as a landmark piece in the U.S. The Act outlawed discrimination based on sex, race, or religion. It also ended racial segregation in the schools, the unequal application of the voter registration requirements, workplace and in the facilities. It was a turning point in the era where it primarily fought any form of discrimination of another human being (Mayer, 2004). Another item in the capsule is the July 4th, 1969 Life Magazine featuring Neil Armstrong. It reflects the great astronaut who stepped off the lunar landing module Eagle and since then became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. He developed a fascination with flight where he earned his student pilot license at the age of 16 years. Armstrong began his aeronautical engineering studies in the year 1947 at Purdue University. The stories concerning this legend are legend as well. He mastered to land on the moon by flying a machine LLRV, that looked like a metal insect with no fabric and barely enough means to control it. Neil changed the world during the early years of 1960. He was an outstanding pilot and excellent engineer. The assignment he got of landing a completely novel rocket machine on the earths moon was because he was the perfect man for that task. He had excellent judgement about all the capabilities of the ship he was handling and, above all, he possessed the ability to keep his strengths about him in the most dangerous situations. He always believed that one small step for a man is a one giant leap for mankind. For people everywhere, Neil was a hero not because of doing his jobs successfully but because of his profession in each of his activity. He raised the expectations, dreams, and hopes of everyone on earth. He made humans believe in achieving great things, learn about our place among the stars, fly, and change the world (Armstrong, 1970). The 1960 era was of great importance to the world in general as it marked a turning point for many activities. Hundreds of Americans gave new life to the nations democratic ideals. African Americans used sit-ins to fight unemployment, poverty and to fight for civil rights as well. It was due to this era that the world we are is so exciting with so many discoveries, different implementation and many more. The period also brought unity globally, and human rights came to emergence as well. References Armstrong, N., & Collins, M. (1970). First on the moon A voyage with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins [and] Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.,. Boston: Little, Brown. Bugliosi, V. (2007). Reclaiming history: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy. New York: W.W. Norton &. Jones, S. (2002). Pop music and the press. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Mayer, R. (2004). The Civil Rights Act of 1964. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. Westheider, J. (2007). The Vietnam War. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Read More